A couple of weeks ago I had to walk my dog in the dark and by dark I mean more than an hour and half until sunrise. Besides the cold and the rain and the early mornings, the lack of light was really something new to me. I mean I have been on Lake Superior’s shores at midnight but this was a different kind of darkness. Up at the Lake I always knew that I could just walk a couple of feet and find my cabin or walk a couple of feet and find my friends.

But this darkness was different, it was more than just nighttime darkness, it was pervasive, swallowing, encompassing, and lonely darkness. Yes, I had the stars and my flashlight but it was strange to not see other people, other house lights, other signs of life more than the occasional cricket or tree swaying in the wind. It felt like I was the only human in the conscious world. Now I know this all may sound too dramatic and like I am a five-year-old scared of the dark, but to be honest the darkness is scary. The darkness is the unknown and I found a new perspective of that because of my early morning walks.

When I walked in the morning, the only sources of light were my flashlight, the stars, and my house end lights. The lack of light made the light all the more precious and I gained new insight to verses about light, particularly about Psalm 119:105 and Matthew 5:14-16.

My flashlight actually was a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I relied on it to know if my next step was okay to take and where my next few steps would take me. The amount of trust I put into my flashlight is downright crazy. My family has had that flashlight since before I was born and not once did I think about it going out on me. I didn’t once think about the batteries or what I would do if it went out, I just trusted that it would guide me.

That’s the way I want to be with God. To put total trust in Him to secure my next step and to show me where to walk next. I should put even more trust in God than my flashlight because God doesn’t run on batteries. I only knew where I was with my flashlight if I pointed it in the direct I wanted to go, but what if that was the wrong direction? With God, I don’t decide the direction; God does. Oh, am I glad that He is my guide. His timing and direction is beyond perfect, beyond any coincidence I could even think of, God truly still is the God of miracles. How much better would my life be if I trusted Him to guide me to the right path verses trying to stumble my way through the darkness? We should trust God to guide us because He knows the road map when we only have a tiny flashlight.

Just think about how much time and energy we waste having this pent up anxiety about which path to take, what university to go to, which job to take, who is the right partner. Just think how much easier it would be just to give it all over to God, to let Him guide you through life, to let Him be the light on your path. I want to let my path be God’s path, my light to be God’s light, my life to be God’s life. I want to be God’s. I don’t have that much time and energy to waste trying to figure out my life when I know God already has it all figured out and I just need to say “yes”. God is my light and my guide.

The other verse I gained insight to was Matthew 5:14-16, particularly about the city on the hill. I walk my dog around the property line of my ten-acres and my house is in the center of my property built on a hill. I could see my house’s end-lights from anywhere on the property and my house became a sort of beacon. A beacon saying, “Within this light is safety and familiarity, the darkness and the unknown is not present here.” My house and the light was safety, safety from the wild animals that could be just around the next tree, safety from the unknown.

This thought was quite different from my general take away from Matthew 5: 14-16, I had always thought that the ‘city on a hill’ was a light of goodness and hope to a world in darkness. Now I realize different, the city is also a refuge, a shield from the darkness, just enough time to catch your breath before you plunge back into the unknown. The Church should also be a city on a hill, not just source of goodness and hope to the world but a place to go when you just need a break, when you need security, when you have been emptied and need to be filled. The Church should be restorative and a refuge. The Church shouldn’t just be a lighthouse or a beacon saying that hope still lives, it should also be a campfire – a place to come to to rest up and talk with friends, a place of comfort and community.

I realized that the darkness wasn’t scary after I focused on God and on His Word. God was the guide of my path, He had me securely in His light, so I didn’t have to worry anymore. Once you focus on God then the twists and turns and questions of life pale in comparison to His light. God is in control so step back and follow His light.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.”

-Matthew 5: 14- 15

“You are the light of the world.” Jesus starts with having us think big, not our town or church but the world. But how can I be the light of the world? Through your words you can touch the world. News today can be terrorism this, police violence that, but it is also filled with good Samaritans. Normal people doing things or saying things that touch the world – being a light to the world. Anne Frank wrote, “Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.” A single light, a single person, can change the darkness of our world; can defy it in strength born from God’s words. One candle can illuminate a room, except I want to be more than just a flickering flame; I want to be a raging fire. I want God’s love to be so burning within me that it spills over to my works and words. I want to be a bonfire that pops sparks to other tinder just waiting for that first combustion of God’s love. It only takes a spark to get a fire going. Trust God with your words, and see Him shine through you and touch others.

The next comparison is “A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.” A good way to picture this is the Edinburgh Castle at night. It is beacon to all those around, a sign of light in the night. This how we want our church to be, a beacon in the hardships of life in the night. A sanctuary in which to grow our light. However, we can’t grow until our words of hope reach needy ears. To be a city lit for those in the dark to come to and see the truth, the way, and the life; we need to work together, shine together, speak love together. Together we are strong, together with our God in Heaven and the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Be so good they can’t ignore you. Built on a hill we cannot be hidden, our foundation is strong, built on the rock of Jesus Christ. The winds of life may roar but we will not be shaken from our foundation. The floodwaters may rise but we are on a hill, we will not be washed away and we will not water down our message. Our light will remain lit bright; it will not be dimmed by the floods of life.

The next part of our light is, “Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.” We each have the ability to shine, with the personalized gifts, God has given us, but we sometimes allow the world to distract us. God has lit each of our lamps, but we allow stress and frustration to take over and hide it under a bowl of the world. I can’t say to totally put away all stress because we live in the world, but we are not part of the world. We will always feel the pull to put our light under a bowl, but with God we have the strength not succumb to the darkness of the world, but to brighten it. To do that, we need to take a stand to put our lamps on a stand.

Jesus has also been taking our perspective from bigger groups to smaller ones: the world, a town, the house. At the center is you, change starts with you. God has created all, and will help you with all, if you allow Him to, if you allow Him to lead. We are to reflect and share Jesus’ light, but how can we do that if we don’t allow Him to show us where to aim the light? A lighthouse won’t help the lost boat if it shines the wrong way. We not only need to open our eyes to God, but allow Him to light our path.